ATHLETE OF THE WEEK -Hawaiis Renata Camargo was named the Western Athletic Conferences womens tennis Player of the Week.
Camargo, a sophomore from Sao Paulo, Brazil (College of Charleston), was the only Rainbow Wahine to win both of her singles and doubles matches last week. At No. 6 singles, she defeated UC Irvine's Veronica Fermin, 6-0, 6-1 and Gustavus Adolphus' Hannah Fredricks, 6-0, 6-1. At No. 3 doubles, she and Kimberly Curtis defeated UCI's Fermin and Kristina Boss, 9-7 and GAC's Jamie Gaard and Elissa Bashleben, 8-5.
Her doubles victory against UC Irving gave UH the doubles point. This season, she is 4-2 in singles action and 4-0 in doubles play. The team lost 4-3 to No. 63 UC Irvine, and beat Gustavus Adolphus, 6-1. The Rainbow Wahine are 3-3 in dual matches this season
OTHERS NOMINATED Carolina Pongratz, Boise State; Blair DiSesa, Rice; Svetlana Kouzmenko, SMU and Daniela Muscolino, Tulsa.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State - The Broncos have a week off before hosting UC Santa Barbara, Colorado State and Montana State next weekend, Feb. 20-22 in Boise. The week off will be good for the Broncos, who are a little banged up after playing three matches last week, including a 4-3 win over Minnesota. In the most recent national collegiate tennis rankings ( Feb. 10) and the Bronco womens tennis team is ranked 54th, a jump of seven spots as they were 61st before.
Fresno State - Fresno State (1-0) ends its 18-day rest period this week when the team heads south to take on No. 11 UCLA and No. 42 Pepperdine. Those matches begin a brutal stretch for the Bulldogs that sees them play seven matches this month, each away from home and each against a nationally ranked opponent. Fresno State doesn't return to the Wathen Tennis Center until March. The Bulldogs defeated No. 56 TCU 5-2 in the dual match opener Jan. 25. The victory was the first in the career for interim head coach Simon Thibodeau, who took over the team in September after the departure of former coach Kevin Epley.
Hawaii - The Rainbow Wahine defeated NCAA Division III Gustavus Adolphus, 6-1, on Feb. 6, but in the process lost a top player due to an injury. Junior Justine Boutet went down with a knee injury in her doubles match with Sylvia Jaros and could not continue in singles competition. However, Boutet was able to finish the match against GAC's Tara Houlihan and Lyndsey Palen, which the Gusties won, 8-2. This week, the Rainbow Wahine take on WAC foe Louisiana Tech and future WAC opponents New Mexico State in El Paso.
Louisiana Tech - The ball kept bouncing the wrong way for Louisiana Tech on Feb. 7, as the Lady Techsters dropped a home match to McNeese State. The Cowgirls dominated singles play to win 5-2. Tech, now 1-5 on the season, won the doubles point by winning all three of those matches, but McNeese won five of six singles matches to secure the win.
Nevada - After collecting its first win of the season against Weber State on Jan. 31, Nevada fell to New Mexico State on Feb. 1, 7-0 at the Feritta Tennis Complex on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas, Nev. The win takes Nevada to a 1-4 record, with all of its losses this season coming with 7-0 scores. Nevada next travels to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. and Utah on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m.
Rice - The 62nd-ranked Rice women have lost three-straight after losing road matches to William & Mary, LSU and Florida State. The Owls next venture to College Station on Valentine's Day to face the 25th-ranked Aggies, before returning to the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on Feb. 21 to begin a nine-match home stand.
San Jose State - San Jose State was defeated 6-1, by USF on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The Dons swept five of the six singles matches and all three doubles matches. San Jose States sole win was at No. 5 singles. Kathy Van defeated Michelle Duncan 6-7 (2), 6-3 (10-3). The Spartans now hope that Friday the 13th in not unlucky as they host UC Riverside.
SMU - The SMU women's tennis team dropped its third straight match on Feb. 10, as the No. 58 TCU Horned Frogs defeated the Mustangs 4-3 at the Friedman Tennis Center in Ft. Worth, Texas. With the loss, SMU falls to 2-3 on the year. The Mustangs got off to a good start, winning the doubles point when the No. 1 team of Svetlana Kouzmenko and Kit Carson clinched the point with their 9-8 victory over TCU's top doubles duo. Nadia Vaughan and Lynsie Jones also paired up for a doubles victory at the No. 3 slot. The Mustangs return the court Feb. 13 when they travel to Louisville, Ky. to take on Louisville at 2:00 p.m.
UTEP - The Miners began the spring season winning three of four matches on the road last week. UTEP will return home for a three-match stint at home starting Friday against Louisiana Tech at 2 p.m. at the El Paso Tennis Club. They will host Hawaii on Sunday at 10 a.m. and New Mexico State on Feb. 20. The Miners will face a WAC school and one future WAC school in New Mexico State.
Tulsa - Tulsa owns a No. 49 team ranking. Daniela Muscolino and Ilona Somers teamed up to earn a No. 32 doubles ranking. The Golden Hurricane own a 4-1 mark on the season, notching a 1-0 conference mark.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Houston, Texas at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University, April 30-May 2. The 2003 champion, Fresno State, will look to win its third-straight title.